MY ACCOUNT
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insists there are no issues between star players Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, comparing any frustrations between the pair to sibling squabbles.
Rumours of discontent at the Parc des Princes have been swirling since Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-2 win against Montpellier on August 13, where Neymar decided to assume penalty duties following an earlier miss from the spot by Mbappe.
During that game, Mbappe reportedly appeared frustrated with multiple teammates, which was said to have boiled over in the dressing rooms afterwards, requiring Sergio Ramos to step in and keep the peace.
Soon after, Neymar was seen to have liked a tweet that said Mbappe’s new contract with the French giants had him acting like the “owner of PSG”.
After the Champions League draw on Thursday – where Paris Saint-Germain landed in Group H with Juventus, Benfica and Maccabi Haifa – Al-Khelaifi was adamant that any supposed rift between his superstars was being overblown.
“No, no. There’s no problem at all,” he said. “I think it’s really… I mean, I think it’s you making a problem especially, and the media.
“There’s no problem at all. I mean, I can argue with my brother, or sister, it’s normal. But the media, because it’s Kylian Mbappé… they are good friends and they are very good team-mates. And they will always be good team-mates.”
Through three games of the Ligue 1 season, Paris Saint-Germain are the only team with three wins, and have done so with 17 goals for, and only three against.
“It’s a good start, it’s just the start,” Al-Khelaifi said. “They need to work harder and there’s a lot of things to work on and to improve, because the season is too long, it’s just the start. We are very happy with the start.”
